Scottish Monthly GDP Estimates For January - Output remains 8.4% below the pre-pandemic

25th March 2021

Scotland's GDP fell by 2.3% in January, according to statistics announced today by the Chief Statistician.

This is the third consecutive monthly fall in GDP, as restrictions on economic activity were extended to the current lockdown for mainland Scotland. Output remains 8.4% below the pre-pandemic level in February 2020?, and has fallen by a total of 4.1% over the three months since October.

In January 2021? there was growth in the production and construction sectors, but a fall of 3.4% in the services sector. Output fell in most of the services subsectors, with the drop in education activity, as most pupils moved to remote learning, making the largest contribution to the month on month fall.

Output in the production sector increased by 0.8% in January, including 1.9% growth in the manufacturing subsector. Output in the construction sector is estimated to have increased by 0.9%.